Jailed PKK founder Ocalan moved to new section of Turkish island prison

Improving prison conditions for Abdullah Ocalan has been a key Kurdish demand in push to end PKK-Turkiye conflict.

A poster of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is displayed during a memorial ceremony for 49 PKK fighters who died in clashes with the Turkish army [Mehmet Masum Suer/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty]

Turkiye has moved the jailed founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, to a newly-built section of the island prison where he has been held for 27 years, pro-Kurdish legislators said as they urged Ankara to speed up the stalled peace process.

Mithat Sancar, a member of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) delegation that regularly visits Ocalan, confirmed the transfer on Saturday in an interview with the Kurdish television channel Medya Haber TV.

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He said the move “necessitates an acceleration of the (peace) process”, which he said had been paused for two months. “The process cannot proceed with unilateral expectations and demands,” he said.

Fellow DEM politician Pervin Buldan said on Sunday that Ocalan himself had announced the transfer, but played down its significance.

“This new facility is part of the prison; it is not somewhere outside the prison,” she said, according to the AFP news agency. “The question of status cannot be defined solely by Mr Ocalan having moved to this location.”

Erbil-based broadcaster Kurdistan24 described the facility as a new house built for Ocalan on Imrali island. It said the move was seen as part of preparations to give him a more active role in the peace process. Better prison conditions for Ocalan have been a key Kurdish demand.

The PKK was founded in 1978 by Ocalan and others, initially fighting for an independent Kurdish state, before shifting its demands to autonomy and greater rights for Turkiye’s Kurds, who make up an estimated 15 to 20 percent of the population. The group launched an armed campaign against the Turkish state in 1984 and is designated a “terrorist” organisation by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.

The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people . Ocalan has been held on Imrali, in the Sea of Marmara, since his capture in 1999.

In February last year, Ocalan called on the PKK to disband and disarm and the group announced its dissolution that May. Turkiye’s parliament adopted a law offering limited amnesty for PKK fighters in August and the PKK leadership has repeatedly demanded Ocalan’s release as part of the process.

改善阿卜杜拉·奥贾兰的监狱条件一直是库尔德人推动结束库尔德工人党与土耳其冲突的一项关键诉求。

在纪念49名在与土耳其军队冲突中丧生的库尔德工人党战士的仪式上，展示了库尔德工人党领导人阿卜杜拉·奥贾兰的海报。[Mehmet Masum Suer/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty]

亲库尔德议员表示，土耳其已将库尔德工人党（PKK）创始人阿卜杜拉·奥贾兰转移到他被关押了27年的岛屿监狱新建的监区，他们敦促安卡拉加快停滞不前的和平进程。

人民平等与民主党 (DEM) 代表团成员米哈特·桑贾尔 (Mithat Sancar) 经常访问奥贾兰，他在周六接受库尔德电视台 Medya Haber TV 采访时证实了这一调任。

土耳其批准类似赦免法案，赦免数千名库尔德工人党战士（共3条，第1条）

土耳其通过法律，给予数千名库尔德工人党成员特赦机会（共3条，此为第2条）

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他表示，此举“需要加快（和平）进程”，并指出该进程已经停滞了两个月。“单方面的期望和要求无法推动和平进程，”他说道。

民主党政治家佩尔文·布尔丹周日表示，奥贾兰本人已经宣布了这一人事调动，但他淡化了此事的重要性。

据法新社报道，她说：“这个新设施是监狱的一部分，并非位于监狱之外。奥贾兰先生搬到这里并不能仅仅定义他的身份问题。”

总部位于埃尔比勒的库尔德斯坦24电视台称，该设施是为奥贾兰在伊姆拉勒岛上建造的新住所。该电视台表示，此举被视为旨在让奥贾兰在和平进程中发挥更积极作用的准备工作之一。改善奥贾兰的狱中条件一直是库尔德人的一项重要诉求。

库尔德工人党（PKK）由奥贾兰等人于1978年创立，最初争取建立独立的库尔德国家，后来转而要求土耳其库尔德人（约占土耳其人口的15%至20%）享有自治权和更多权利。该组织于1984年发动了针对土耳其政府的武装冲突，并被土耳其、美国和欧盟认定为“恐怖组织”。

这场冲突已造成超过4万人死亡。奥贾兰自1999年被俘以来一直被关押在马尔马拉海的伊姆拉利岛上。

去年2月，奥贾兰呼吁库尔德工人党解散并解除武装，该组织于同年5月宣布解散。土耳其议会于8月通过一项法律，对库尔德工人党武装分子实行有限特赦，库尔德工人党领导层多次要求将奥贾兰的释放作为特赦程序的一部分。